人生的枷锁

1.要时时刻刻为生计操心，世上再没有什么比这更丢脸的了。那些视金钱如粪土的人，我就最瞧不起。他们不是伪君子就是傻瓜。钱是人的第六感，没有它，其余五感就无法充分发挥作用。没有足够的收入，人生一半的可能性都会被堵死。做任何事情都担心自己得不偿失，绝不会为了一先令付出两先令的成本。有些人说贫穷是对艺术家最好的鞭策，那是因为他们从来没体会过贫穷的切肤之痛。他们不知道贫穷会让一个人变得刻薄，它会让你遭受无尽的羞辱，它会斩断你的翅膀，它会像癌症一样吞噬你的灵魂。

There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one’s means of livelihood. I have nothing but contempt for the people who despise money. They are hypocrites or fools. Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. Without an adequate income half the possibilities of life are shut off. The only thing to be careful about is that you do not pay more than a shilling for the shilling you earn. You will hear people say that poverty is the best spur to the artist. They have never felt the iron of it in their flesh. They do not know how mean it makes you. It exposes you to endless humiliation, it cuts your wings, it eats into your soul like a cancer. It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank, and independent.

2.他知道缺钱会让一个人变得小气、刻薄、贪婪，会扭曲一个人的性格，让他看待这个世界的角度变得庸俗；每一个便士都要斤斤计较的时候，钱的重要性就像被哈哈镜放大了一样，必须有一定的能力才能正确看待它的价值。